ADVENTURES IN NURSING

OUR FOURTH DAY OF NURSING SCHOOL

Day #4 and we’re still going at it.  We’ve lost a couple more people by now.  They’re dropping like flies.  We’re getting friendly with a few of the grown-ups, and B and I are realizing that we’re not the only ones who are feeling like fish out of water.  Thank God.  That gives us hope.

Mrs. B-1 hustles in and begins to return yesterday’s quiz to us.  Shoot!  Darn!  Heck!  (Those are not the words that were going through my head, but they’re close enough.)  I failed my first quiz of nursing school.  Boy, do I feel like an idiot.  Not exactly the brilliant beginning for which I was hoping.  And look at B over there with her A minus.  Bitch!  (And I mean that in the best possible way.)  It just might behoove me to begin studying with her.  We can be our own little study group of two.  I do not want a repeat of this fiasco.  Time to get serious.

But wait there’s more!  Here comes today’s quiz on Chapter one of A and P.  Hey, I actually know some of this stuff.  Let’s say a silent prayer that I actually pass this one.  It’s only day four and my brain feels crammed with information already.  Do I actually need to know this crap?  Do people actually survive nursing school?  I suppose they must.

On to Chapter two of A and P.  Hustling right along.  Listen to lecture, take notes on lecture, rinse and repeat.  Occasionally, someone will ask a question and we get sidetracked for several minutes.  Mrs. B-1 doesn’t waste much time on such nonsense.  She’s got a schedule to maintain.  We’re welcome to visit the nursing library in the next room for additional information, but let’s stick to the lesson plan for now.  In other words, hear it, digest it, learn it, and spew it back out when you need to.  That’s how we do nursing school.  ARGHHH!

Blessed break time.  Time to stuff my face with junk food so my brain and body will continue to function.  Time to spend 15 minutes gossiping with our new friends, wondering who will be next to leave us.  We’re determined it won’t be any of us.  We are grown-ups after all.  Fingers crossed.

Time for Mrs. B-2, whose teaching style is completely different from Mrs. B-1.  First, naturally, we get today’s quiz from her, and I feel better prepared for that.  She then returns yesterday’s quiz, which I passed!  Just barely, but I’ll take it for now. 

Her lecture begins, but she’s easily distracted by questions.  Already a couple of people are using this to their advantage.  The lesson goes off on tangents, and there’s very little note taking because we’re getting very little real information from her.  We do, however, hear lots of stories from her nursing career.  Some of them are interesting, and some of them cause me to wonder why anyone ever wants to be a nurse.  B and I write notes to each other, wondering if this day will ever end.

It does end – finally.  We spend several minutes leaning against our car talking to a couple of classmates while we smoke our blessed cigarette.  The cute hunky married guy is becoming a friend, as is the lovely longhaired lady from the nearby Indian reservation town.  They seem just like us - real people with kids, too many bills, not enough money, and not enough time to get it all done.  We’re not alone!  Life is hard and nursing school is making it harder.  But, we’re on a mission and, by God, we’re gonna make this thing happen!  We will not be defeated!  We’re feeling pretty frisky since the next day is Friday.

NEXT UP:  DAY FIVE OF NURSING SCHOOL